Perplexity Reportedly Boosts Valuation to $18B Following Fresh Funding Round As AI Frenzy Picks Up Steam

Artificial intelligence (AI) startup Perplexity has secured an additional $100 million in funding, boosting its valuation to $18 billion from $14 billion just months ago, according to a Financial Times report on Thursday.

Perplexity, widely seen as a competitor to Google Search, had closed a $500 million funding round in May.

The company initially sought an $18 billion valuation in the funding round but faced resistance from investors. However, after the round closed, new investors approached the company and were offered the opportunity to purchase equity at the same $18 billion valuation, according to the FT report, which cited two people with direct knowledge of the situation.

Three-year-old Perplexity's soaring valuation — up from $500 million at the start of last year — highlights the rapid acceleration in AI development, widely seen as tech's next big frontier. In recent years, adoption has surged among users and businesses alike, as players from OpenAI to Google and Amazon race to roll out new tools.

The competition has, of late, evolved into a talent war, where larger companies are now trying to gain an edge by leveraging their financial muscle. Meta reportedly held acquisition talks with upstarts like Thinking Machine Lab and Safe Superintelligence, both founded by former OpenAI staff, before buying a 49% stake in Scale AI for nearly $15 billion last month. Google recently spent $2.4 billion to hire the leaders of coding startup Windsurf.

According to the FT report, Perplexity's annualised revenue run-rate has jumped from $35 million in August last year to $150 million this month.

Perplexity is backed by Nvidia, SoftBank's Vision Fund 2, and venture capitalists New Enterprise Associates and IVP.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.

Share

·

Add us on